1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to data processing systems and more particularly to networked computer systems. Still more particularly, the present invention relates to a client computer system which generates and displays a local server clock which is synchronized with a server clock using a client clock.
2. Description of the Related Art
In typical data processing systems, a client computer system may be coupled to an Internet server computer system. The client may request data from the server which the server then transmits to the client, often in the form of Web pages. When the client receives a Web page, the data displayed on a page is static. The data is not dynamically updated from the server as the server receives updates to the data. Therefore, the data displayed on a client may become quickly outdated.
A frequently utilized service provided by an Internet server is an auction service. The auction service may list an item to be auctioned. The length of time the server will accept bids on a particular item is limited and ends at a predetermined date and time. The predetermined date and time are calculated utilizing the time indicated by the server clock. The server may be located physically far away from a client which accesses the server. For example, the server may be located in one time zone while the client resides in another, different time zone. This creates the need for a user to perform a calculation as to the length of time the auction will be open.
In addition, it may be advantageous to a potential buyer to wait until the last minutes of an auction before submitting a bid. In this case, the buyer must calculate precisely when an auction closes. Because the internal clocks of different computer systems are not synchronized, this calculation can become tedious possibly resulting in a lost bidding opportunity when the auction closes earlier than the potential buyer had calculated.
Therefore, a need exists for a method and system for generating and displaying a local server clock which is synchronized with a server clock using a client clock from which various counter values may be derived and displayed. A need exists to indicate to a user how long it has been since the data being viewed has been refreshed, or updated.